Directors’ Series

Helping Canadian corporate directors stay informed

The Directors’ Series enables Canadian corporate directors to stay informed on new developments and issues, while maintaining their continuing education requirements. Each complimentary two-hour session is held as an interactive live broadcast in 17 locations across the country.

These sessions strive to help corporate directors be as effective as possible by providing opportunities to hear from seasoned corporate directors, company executives and professional advisors who provide fresh insights on the most current issues concerningcorporate governance.Attendees can participate in Q&A sessions with the panelists, and network with their peers. At the end of each session, directors receive ready-to-use, practical information and tools to help them discharge their responsibilities.

Mark your calendar for the upcoming season:

October 8, 2015

January 7, 2016

April 7, 2016

To view past sessions of the Directors' Series or to access handout material provided during these sessions, click here.

For directors who hold the ICD.D certification from the Institute of Corporate Directors, the Directors College C.Dir. designation from McMaster University, or the Acc.Dir. accreditation from ICSA Canada, participation in the Deloitte Directors' Series session counts for two hours credit towards the continuing education requirement. The session also counts as two hours credit for the ASC designation for le Collège des administrateurs de société.

Issues for the HR committee

The April 9, 2015 session of the Directors’ Series has provided your board with best practices around managing important talent trends, the implications of technology on the job market, compensation models, and more.

There were many insights shared at this past session and we’d like you to consider a few that may be of importance to you and your board.

Invest in your leaders – It is the one thing your competition cannot copy or duplicate

The top job for the HR/compensation committee is to make sure that you have the top talent in your leadership roles

When the HR committee develops its agenda, it must identify the “must dos” and the associated “should dos” and leave the rest to management

Focus on the audit committee

As the outlook for global markets continues to be uncertain, boards remain focused on risk management. Adding in an environment of changing standards and regulatory requirements, along with continued regulator scrutiny, and the pressure on audit committees is unrelenting.

There were many insights shared at this past session and we’d like you to consider a few that may be of importance to you and your board.

When reviewing accounting estimates, the audit committee should do a deep dive into the underlying judgments made by management.

Financial reporting disclosures should reflect material information and management insights. The objective is communication not just compliance.

To enhance audit quality, the audit committee must ensure they ask management and the external auditor the right questions.

Thriving and surviving in a world of uncertainty – what is the role of the board? When mitigating emerging risks, there are ways in which oversight habits of the board can increase organizational resilience.

Join Jay McMahan, Enterprise Risk Services Partner at Deloitte in a deeper discussion of the 4 habits of resiliency and tell us what resiliency means to you.

Emerging risks - The board's role

Corporate law charges directors with the responsibility for identifying and overseeing the management of key risks in the organizations on which they serve. Risk registers and heat maps have been in use for many years suggesting risk management is mostly science and that risks are all known and quantifiable, evolving in measurable and precise steps. The reality, of course, is that some risks surge out of nowhere, while others evolve slowly, are embryonic for long periods of time, and then transition into major unstoppable trends or erupt into damaging events.

There were many insights shared at this past session and we’d like you to consider a few that may be of importance to you and your board.

If your board ranks risks based on the level of probability and impact, bear in mind that just because a risk is deemed to be low probability does not mean that it can be ignored.

When considering the impact of disruptive risks, it is imperative to understand the threat posed to your business model.

Think globally. The world is shrinking and risks that originate half way around the world may impact you at home – consider Ebola, geopolitical risks and cyber risks.

Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, a UK private company limited by guarantee (“DTTL”), its network of member firms, and their related entities. DTTL and each of its member firms are legally separate and independent entities. DTTL (also referred to as “Deloitte Global”) does not provide services to clients. Please see About Deloitte for a more detailed description of DTTL and its member firms.